Primary liver cancer is a major cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer, having a global incidence of approximately 1.2 million cases per year. In some areas of the world, such as Southeast Asia and Subsahara Africa, hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common types of malignancies. The high frequency of the disease appears to be related to the high incidence of viral hepatitis in these regions.
Curative therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma is currently limited to individuals with nonmetastatic disease and involves surgical resection of the tumor with or without liver transplantation. Even surgical resection and transplantation, however, do not cure most tumors because of recurrence after resection. Chemotherapeutic approaches to treatment have been largely ineffective.
Therefore, there remains a need for an effective treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma. The treatment should ideally be suitable for use in lesser developed countries that have the highest incidence of the disease. Further, the treatment should be appropriate for use in individuals with unresectable tumors and with metastatic disease.